Farewell My King
by Agarhel
Summary: Shilo Amell finds herself trapped in the Fade by a demon of Sloth, and finds the last person she expected. Her former betrothed, Cailan Theirin. Kind of AU-ish... Not entirely sure on the rating and genres, since this is the first time I've ever uploaded anything I wrote. Reviews make sequels ;D


** Disclaimer**: I do not now, nor will I ever, own Dragon Age. It is the property of Bioware. I do however, own this story, though I make no money from it. I have taken several liberties with the characters of Dragon Age: Origins.

_ The wind whistled softly through knee-high grass as the young woman sat up, groaning and holding her head._

_ "Really, Shi, I knew you were tired, but I didn't think you would fall asleep when I brought you out here," said an amused voice, and the woman's head snapped up, torquoise eyes showing shock when they met the blue eyes of the blonde man kneeling next to her, concern showing through his laughter._

_ "C-Cailan!" she exclaimed, hey eyes filling with tears as she reached out to touch his face. "Y-you're dead, though! I saw your body! The darkspa-"_

_ "Shilo, my love, calm down," he murmured, pulling her into his embrace and stroking her short black hair tenderly. "It was only another nightmare. You've been having them since we returned to Denirim."_

_ Tears streamed down the young woman's face, and she clung to her king as if her life depended on it. She knew. It was a dream. She remembered the Tower, and encountering the Sloth demon, before blacking out. "Cailan," she whispered, sniffing quietly. "Please... Kiss me, just this once before I must go?"_

_ "Go? Where are y-"_

_ "Please."_

_ There was no more argument as his lips met hers. It was gentle at first, but then he deepened it, sliding his tongue along her lower lip, seeking entrance, which she granted, moaning into his mouth when their tongues met._

_ It wasn't until the young king's hands began to work at the tie to her robe that she pulled back, taking his hands in her own smaller ones, and shook her head. "I can't, love."_

_ "Shilo?"_

_ She sighed, and stood. "I have to go now, my king," she whispered, releasing one of his hands, only to reach up and cup his cheek, tenderly._

_ "But why?" Her heart broke at the plaintive tone of his voice, but she could not be swayed._

_ "Because, I am no longer Lady Shilo Amell, betrothed of Prince Cailan. I am Shilo Amell, recently harrowed mage of the Circle of Magi, and one of the last living Grey Wardens in Ferelden." She sighed, and stepped back, schooling her face into a mask of confident indifference._

_ "This is a dream. I have been trapped in the Fade by a Sloth demon, and you died nearly two months ago, in the battle at Ostagar, along with Duncan and the rest of the Wardens, and your army. All because Loghain betrayed you, betrayed us all, by leaving us to die when Alistair and I lit the signal. I do not know if you are truly Cailan's spirit, or a different type of spirit, manipulated into trapping me here by the demon, but I can not stay with you. Though it breaks my heart to do so, I must leave you again. I am working to stop the Blight, and... Alistair needs me now."_

_ She turned away from his hurt expression, an expression that had been burned into her memory fourteen years ago, whe she was his betrothed, and he her protector and best friend, as his father held him back from interfering while the Templars dragged her screaming and fighting, from the palace. She had always remembered her prince, and it had nearly broken her five years ago, when news of his marriage to Anora Mac Tir had reached the tower._

_ She squeezed her eyes shut, and felt the Fade shift around her. "Goodbye, my love," Shilo whispered, "I will avenge you."_

_ When she opened her eyes, she was in a different part of the fade, a forest of sorts, with books and parchment, quills and ink pots skattered everywhere. A brown haired enchanter stood studying a pedastal in the center of a clearing, and she recognized him immediately from her time as an apprentice._

_ "Niall!" She called out, running forward._

Groans echoed in the chamber, as the four humans sat up. Shilo's eyes immediately sought out Alistair, and once she had reassured herself that he was fine, she moved on to Morrigan and Wynne. Both the witch and senior enchanter seemed fine as they pushed to their feet, though Wynne wobbled a little.

After taking a moment to close my eyes and force the memory of her own dream to the back of her mind, she stood, and walked over to Alistair, where he still sat with his head in his hands. She knelt beside him, and laid a hand on his shoulder, offering silent comfort until he looked up and gave her that crooked smile that had been able to make her heart feel like it was no longer dead after Jowan's betrayal.

"Let's go," Alistair said, standing and offering her a hand. "We have a tower to save, and abominations to kill. Now, where is this Litany of Adralla?"  
-

A/N: Well, that was it. My first fanfic. What do you think? I have no idea where I got the Cailan/Amell idea, but it wouldn't leave me alone. Since the Amells are a noble family, I figured it wasn't too unrealistic for the human mage to have been betrothed to the king's son before her magic was discovered. Nor would it be too unrealistic for her to love him, if she only remembered him as her closest friend and protector as a child, and the young man she met at Ostagar.

My timeline would have Shilo as being twenty at the start of the Blight (six when she was taken to the Circle), and Cailan being twenty-two, Alistair would also be twenty. I base Cailan and Alistair's ages off the timeline given in the book, Dragon Age: the Calling. Cailan was two when Alistair was born, and Alistair was born eight years after the Orlesian Occupation ended, which was thirty years before the Blight began. I know a lot of people have their ages different, but I go by what Bioware gave me to work with.

Anyway... Questions: Should I continue? Write a prequel (about before Shilo went to the tower), perhaps?

IF I get enough feedback to make me want to continue this, the story after Ostagar, leading up to this, and after the Broken Circle will be Alistair/Shilo. This will also be taking a backseat to my main story, which includes all my Origins and Hawke, and will span ALL the games (including DA3), and have book spoilers. Sadly, I'm having trouble getting part 1 finished so I can post it, since things like this keep popping up in my mind and refusing to go away..

Constructive criticism is welcome, but any and all flames will be ignored in the order they are recieved. I hope you enjoyed my story (and end-rant). Reviews will encourage me to change it's "complete" status.


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